JAZ

Jeez, it's no wonder people start to feel inadequate in the kitchen. It's easy to assume that anything I make is easy or convenient for everyone else to make, but that's just not the case. Yes, I make my own lime cordial. It's easy and fast, but I'd never say that anyone else is crazy if they don't make it. And if I hate to bake and make crappy pies and cakes, then I'd be crazy not to buy good quality pies and cakes from someone who makes good ones (and likes doing it).

I have to say that I don't understand the reason behind the iphone app. It seems to me that if you have the book and internalize the ratios, then all you would need is some basic math skills or a calculator. What does the iphone app add to the book?

We decided to recreate the first New Year's Eve dinner we had together, with a few refinements. So, rack of lamb, asparagus with sauce maltaise, and a sort of cross between potatoes Lyonnaise and rosti. Tomorrow will be some kind of first course with lobster, and osso buco.

I'm another fan of the Messermeisters -- the angle of the handle is easy on the wrist. They're definitely right-handed, though, and as far as I know the company doesn't make a left-handed version.

I'm confused. You "mentored" with Uyeda for six months, yet it wasn't until you returned to Tokyo that you tried his drinks? Or is it that they weren't transcendent when you were working with him, and only became so in the months you were away? If so, what happened during that time? Again, why were you skeptical if you'd mentored with Uyeda? Are you saying that working with the man for six months made no difference to your attitude? If I called someone a "mentor" I don't think I could claim that I was objective about him.

Hi, Robert. I'm going to be pedantic and repeat that as I understand it, salt doesn't penetrate cell walls - it's too big, even dissolved in water. From McGee's On Food and Cooking (p. 283, new edition): "Table salt in neutral cooking water speeds vegetable softening, apparently because its sodium ions displace the calcium ions that cross-link and anchor the cement molecules in the fruit and vegetable cell walls, thus breaking the cross-links and helping to dissolve the hemicelluloses." Sounds to me like salt can penetrate cell walls, or at least its sodium ions can. (Incidentally, this ability of salt to soften vegetables during cooking is the reason the outside of a potato cooked in salted water can start to dissolve before the center is done.)

I made this recipe for stout gingerbread cake from Gramercy Tavern a few years ago. It was great. I served it with a pear compote and whipped cream. I've also served gingerbread cake with sauteed apples before; that's good too.

Seems to me that all one is doing here is taking out some liquid that's too salty and replacing it with water. Why use a loaf of bread instead of a ladle?

Talking about "chains" is meaningless until you define the term. If multiple locations is the only criterion, then Craftbar, Oceanaire, Rosa Mexicana and even Bouchon are all "chains," yet I'm confident that most people wouldn't talk about them in the same way they talk about McDonalds, Subway or Olive Garden. It's also easy to forget that restaurants that expand into chains can only do so if they're successful -- which means that a large number of people think they're good. Here in Atlanta, Richard Blais opened Flip Burger Boutique to heavy acclaim. His team has now opened a second location in Birmingham AL -- and people are elated over the news. He makes no secret of the fact that he wants to expand further. When does Flip become a "chain" -- and when will people begin to treat it with disdain for being one?

Nuts are another thing that benefit from being cooked a lot longer than "necessary."

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I have another question. The paste I bought (Mae Ploy brand) came in a plastic tub, but in a plastic bag inside the tub. Should I empty the paste from the bag to the tub, or does it make a difference?

Chris, I make mine soup-like, but if I have leftovers, but the second day the dumplings (I make the biscuit-style dumplings) have disintegrated enough to thicken the liquid to a stew consistency. So I guess it depends on the timing.

The almonds are cooked with sugar until the sugar melts, then tossed with a little butter and salt. I posted the recipe here.

Cashews are also common in Thai cuisine.

I don't use Thai curry pastes often, but I bought a container of red curry paste for satay sauce, and now I have a lot leftover. I figure I can freeze it, but I'm wondering if I could just refrigerate it instead. How long does it keep in the fridge? If I freeze it, I guess I'd be best off freezing it in ice cube trays. Is that the best way to store it?

I've done a dark chocolate bark with toffee almonds the last couple of years, which goes over well with my family and friends.

Have you tried Star Provisions? I find a lot of unusual ingredients there.

Maggie, you could check out the eGCI Home Brewing course for some ideas.

After trying a number of methods for roasting any waxy potatoes, I've found the simplest way to be the best. I cut them in half if small, quarters if large, toss them in oil and salt, and then place them on a sheet pan so that the cut side (or one cut side) is down. Roast at 375 for 20 to 30 minutes and then check them. I've found that if you try to toss or turn the potatoes too soon, they'll stick to the pan and you lose the crisp crust that's forming. If the potatoes have released from the pan, sometimes I'll go ahead and turn them if there's more than one cut side, but it's not really necessary to turn them at all. When the potatoes seem done (a knife or skewer goes in easily) I continue roasting them for another 15 minutes or so. It's a trick I learned years ago about waxy potatoes -- if you roast them longer than you think is necessary, they develop a great creamy interior. That combined with the crust that forms makes for the best roasted potatoes I've ever made.

That's certainly one option. I personally think that purposely buying cookware to throw away in a couple of months or even years isn't very ecologically sound. I'd rather buy something that will last.

I've used several brands and by far the best I've found is Swiss Diamond for non-stick. It's very durable (it can go in the dishwasher with great results) and is not too expensive. I've used mine constantly for several years and it's still in great shape.

Two points: Recipe names on menus matter more than recipe names in books. If I'm reading a cookbook, I can read the headnote, or at least see what the ingredients and instructions are to get an idea of the finished dish. On a restaurant menu, I either want a descriptive name or an explanation of what the dish is. If I saw "Lamb with Apples" on a menu and there wasn't a description of how the lamb was cooked, I'd think the restaurant did a bad job naming the dish. Whereas if it said "Lamb Shanks braised with Apples" I'd have a better idea of what to expect. Second, when a chef uses a traditional or iconic name for a dish (e.g. Caesar salad, Waldorf salad, Beef Wellington, Steak Diane), the food I end up with should be recognizable as that dish. Don't put "Waldorf Salad" on the menu and give me a salad made from fennel, butternut squash and almonds. Sounds obvious, but chefs play fast and loose with traditional names all the time. For instance, I read in several places about chef Michael Symon's macaroni and cheese, which by all accounts is great. I'm always on the lookout for new macaroni and cheese recipes, so I looked it up. Imagine my surprise to find this recipe, with chicken, rigatoni and goat cheese. It might be a good dish, but it's not macaroni and cheese at all -- more like "Chicken Paprikash Goes to Italy (by way of a goat farm)."

I've used it in the kitchen where I teach. It performs well: heats up evenly, cleans up pretty well. The handles are comfortable and I like the fact that there are no rivets inside the pan to collect crud. However, Tim beat me to it about the weight -- it's heavy stuff.

Here's an interesting article on martinis from the San Francisco Chronicle: Martinis -- It's all about technique

For my own knowledge, I just did an entirely different kind of experiment, to see what would happen in something closer to "real life." That is, I was interested in a liquid closer to what I'd consider "oversalted" soup, instead of a brine. So I dissolved a tablespoon of Diamond Crystal kosher salt into a quart of water and heated it to a simmer. I removed half a cup of the liquid, then added a potato (russet, peeled and sliced about an inch thick). I covered the pan and continued to simmer for 15 minutes, then double strained the liquid and measured out another half cup. I heated up the initial sample so the two liquids were the same temperature and then -- surprise! -- tasted them. I could taste a faint hint of potato in the second sample, but the salt level was no different. Yes, I know this was hardly a controlled experiment. There may have been a slight bit of evaporation, although the lid was tight fitting, and I didn't seen any steam escape. I knew which sample was which, and I didn't try to test the salinity level in any objective sense. I just tasted them. But to me, that's what's important if this is supposed to be a real life method of saving oversalted liquids. The second one didn't taste less salty. It was a just a waste of a potato and 20 minutes.